Advice from the HAM Radio Community

If anyone says the HAM radio community is a bunch of old guys playing around with out-dated toys, stop them right there! 

There's nothing "OLD" about HAM technology; and, there were a few young women at the HAM fest put on by the Massillon (OH) Amateur Radio Club as well.

In fact, an enterprising fellow named Daniel Estévez just recently landed the first amateur radio on the Moon, with the help of The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). You can check out his blog, here.

Unfortunately, I was not able to connect to his signal, even after running out of my Mother's house with my big antenna. The broadcast lasted only for a few days on 437.41 MHz, and I missed it. But, I think Daniel and JAXA, paved the way for more space exploration, specific to the radio field. 

Another thing I wanted to message was just how helpful the HAM community can be. 

A new set-up with the appropriate SWR meter

I needed an SWR meter for my new rig, I got an extremely in-expensive Astatic PDC1. I won't get into more details, but for those of you who don't know, SWR stands for Standing Wave Ratio. HAM operators need to know they have a low SWR ratio to make sure the output of their radio does not cause damage to their radios. 

Well, this inexperienced blogger used the Astatic PDC1. And, I did not know at-the-time that my particular model was designed ONLY for CB Radio, also known as Citizens Band Radio... And, my new SWR meter started to SMOKE. This is not to suggest that the Astatic is a bad product. It was just the wrong one for my set-up. 

Where did I go for better advice? Reddit of all places. (I know, the home of neck-bearded dorks who live in their moms' basements). However, it turns out this community is not-all bad. They were the ones who suggested the appropriate model for my set-up! 

What I ended up going with was the MFJ-862 UHF/VHF meter, which was a little more expensive and did not burn out. So, in the end, I got good advice from a Reddit user whose username was very NSFW ;)

Rig Step-up & Basic Electronics

This past January, I upgraded to a more advanced VHF/UHF transceiver for HAM radio communication, the ICOM IC-2730. Previously, I'd only been using a handheld Baofeng UV-5R. Though the IC-2730 is built to be a mobile transceiver mounted in a vehicle for talking and receiving on-the-road, it makes a good stationary base station at a much more affordable price than dedicated stationary transceivers such as the IC-7300.

The advantage of the new ICOM is a 50 watt output allowing for greater signal range, a dual-band input allowing the listener to tune in to two different frequencies at the same time, a big bright user-friendly display, a microphone with channel and volume controls as well as adjustable squelch knob to block out weak frequencies while scanning for audible chatter. In short, the IC-2730 is a nice stepping-stone between the economical handheld and the powerful, but expensive, base station. For an experienced HAM, it's the perfect mobile counter-part to a dedicated base transceiver. 

However, when I opened the box and examined my new IC-2730 my inexperience was on full display. When I attempted to fire it up I found only bare high-gauge wires -nothing to go into my wall socket. How the heck was I supposed to plug this thing in? I thought maybe the box was missing the "plug." But, after reading the manual it was clear everything that was supposed to be delivered was in the package. I guess that's why there's a whole section on basic electronics in the HAM radio technician license exam; I was going to need to do some basic wiring.

Because my IC-2370 is a mobile unit, it was made to run off a stand-alone power supply such as a car battery. So, the input and ground wires are lengthy and come with naked leads that can be cut to any length and attached to any type of power source by solder or a connector. (A lot of people have these installed in their cars by a professional, rather than mess with all that themselves.) Additionally, my radio needs a fairly high amount of power to reach the output signal it advertises, and it uses direct current (DC). Home power sockets use alternating current (AC). 

So, in addition to my radio, I'd need a power supply that can be plugged into the wall, accept AC current, convert the AC current to DC and amass a specified amount of voltage (13.8 V), then force a high enough current (30 Amps) to the radio to achieve it's maximum signal range. My solution was the BTech RPS-30PRO bench power supply. This adjustable power box is what gets electricity from the wall socket, converts it to DC and stores the 13.8 (or more) volts needed to power most HAM radios. 

Now I needed to figure out how to connect my radio's bare wires to the BTech power supply box. With some basic research, I found out this could be done with some very basic insulated fork connectors and a crimping tool. Connectors in all shapes and sizes are exceedingly cheap and typically available in the wiring and electronics section of any hardware store. A crimping tool usually runs from about $10-25 dollars (USD). Once I had the right hardware, I crimped the bare wires to two fork-shaped connectors and screwed them into the output leads of my power supply. On the first try, I was ready to go!

While the extra wiring and installation steps seemed at first like a drag, it turned out to be nice learning experience for this not-so-handy blogger. If fact, like many HAMs and DIYers, I took the opportunity to build a small wiring kit for my workshop that includes a set of connectors, wires, a crimping tool as well as an all-in-one wire cutter/stripper. I'm now ready to take on the installation and set up requirements for any new HAM radio or component for either a mobile station or base station. Plus, the screw-knob design of the power box leads allows multiple transceivers or HAM components to be attached at once. So, hopefully, it's the last bench power supply I'll ever need to buy. 

The tools, wires and connectors allow me to use wires specific for radio frequency transmission and cut them to the perfect length for my set up. This reduces signal loss and RF interference, and avoids the tangle and clutter of excess wiring. And, because my licensing exam required me to know basics in electric safety, I was confident in doing the job without damaging my equipment, and most-importantly myself. Safety first!

Now I'm up and running with my new base station, and able to connect with repeaters and HAM groups in both Ohio and Illinois. So, far I've made contacts with The North Shore Amateur Radio Club (ns9rc) using a 147.345 Mhz repeater frequency operating from a tower in Northfield, IL from Chicago as well as a HAM net via a 442.000 Mhz repeater frequency from a tower in Uniontown, OH from Kent, OH. So, I'd say my new ICOM IC-2730 is working well.